A&E Picks Up Boston-Set Docu-Reality Series Produced By Mark Wahlberg

EXCLUSIVE: A&E has given a six-episode order to an untitled docu-reality series executive produced by Mark Wahlberg, which is set in his native Boston. This marks the first unscripted series for Wahlberg, who is executive producing through his Closest to the Hole Prods along with frequent collaborator Stephen Levinson of Leverage, Bill Thompson of Bill Thompson Prods. and veteran reality producer Stephanie Drachkovitch of 44 Blue Prods as well as Jennifer Colbert who serves as showrunner.

The initial impetus for the project, which was first ordered as a pilot by A&E in November, came from the tough, hard-as-nails female characters in Wahlberg‘s Oscar-nominated feature The Fighter. Wahlberg and Thompson were inspired by the women’s spirit and set out to find a group of those types of Boston girls going through challenging times and tell their story. The series, whose main themes are exceeding expectations and getting second chances, follows the intertwining lives of an unlikely quartet of friends, all from different working-class Boston families. The four friends struggle to break through their blue-collar surroundings, in hopes of achieving their dreams. Surrounded by a close-knit circle of well-intentioned parents, their own young children, and several boyfriends, they hustle daily to make ends meet — and roll with the punches, aspiring for greatness, but finding themselves shackled by reality.